


Bittersweet

by sans_souci2



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-06
Updated: 2011-10-06
Packaged: 2017-10-24 08:40:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/261348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sans_souci2/pseuds/sans_souci2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aftert 2.1- another way the the team's beer drinking/bonding moments might have ended.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bittersweet

It feels like they’d been apart for a lot longer than a week.

But then sea changes have a way of fast-forwarding life like that-don’t they?

Of all that was new and different, what was happening to Kono won the prize for most likely to break every single one of their hearts. It was just so wrong and yet it was gaining strength by the hour like a runaway freight train. Later when Steve gets a chance to process what had happened, the guilt would almost level him. It had been his idea after all and he had been emphatic- they had to do it.

He just never thought it could go so terribly wrong.

It's premature to wring hands and curse themselves right now though.

That goes for all of them.

RIght now they're just getting their land legs after a long, rough passage.

“So Joe, I’m thinking you’ve got to have some excellent dirt on our friend here?” Chin challenges White with a mischievous nod toward Steve. Immediately the room erupts in whoops and jeers demanding he deliver the goods.

Strangely both SEALs seem unperturbed, taking long draws on their beers and exchanging tolerant smiles as the raucousness builds.

“Come on Joe, what was our boss like before he got to be so mean and lean?”

Even that doesn’t erase Steve’s weary smile, although Kono draping her arm around him as she asks might have a little something to do with it.

“I’m afraid I can’t help you,” Joe shrugs, “Your friend was already lean and mean when I met him.”

That earns a collective, all around the room groan and eye roll

In Danny’s case, it earns a laugh that nearly makes him spit out his beer, “Oh please,” he chokes, “What-do you guys do? Script this stuff?”

“I’m just telling the truth, Danny.”

“Okay then, give us the story, Joe”

“What story, Kamekona?”

“The one about when you first met McGarrett.”

It only takes Joe a few seconds to think about it. “Okay, I will, but only because it’s a good story-in fact it’s how I knew our friend here would do just fine when he came to Coronado.”

Okay that gets everyone’s attention. This is a story they want to hear.

The tired look of amusement that had been on Steve’s face is replaced by one of resignation. He doesn’t waste any energy trying to stop Joe-he’s way too outnumbered and he knows it. Instead he pulls out a chair and gingerly lowers himself into it. He almost manages not to wince.

Almost.

In a heartbeat Danny nudges Kono aside and slips in behind Steve. The stance he takes, resting his hand on his shoulders is protective and gentle and yet, fierce as a mother lion. “Come on, Joe, out with the story,” he says as he gently kneads Steve’s shoulders “You got five minutes and then I’m taking the guest of honor here home.”

“Whoo. Listen to you,brah!” Against the backdrop of all that is going to hell in her life, Kono loves that Danny finally seems to be coming around.

The grin Joe gives Danny says he’s good with whatever is either going on or might go on. He sets down his beer and moves to the center of the room. Relaxed, like he’s been here for years, he leans against Chin’s beloved console and waits for quiet.

He doesn’t wait long.

“Okay, so I met Steve in 1991,” he begins, “I had some leave to burn before I reported to Coronado so I snagged a seat on a C5 on route to Hickam. My plan was to pay a surprise visit on an old friend I served in Nam with, named John McGarrett.”

He deals with the surprised reaction from everyone but Chin and Danny and then continues. “Steve was only fourteen at the time. He was tall for his age, though, I remember that. I also remember he was already damn fit-not quite as fit as he is today but the foundation was certainly there.”

“Yeah, yeah, we’ve seen the old high school football game tapes –just get on with the story.” Danny doles out the much-needed comic relief hoping to defuse the flush he sees creeping up Steve’s neck.

“Well then you do know what I’m talking about,” White grins. “Anyway, when I showed up at the house, only Steve’s mom and sister were there, John was still at work; Steve was at track practice. Mary stayed in her room for a while, apparently she was already a surly teenager at the ripe old age of 12.”

That gets a good laugh out of everyone who’s met Mary.

“So Steve’s mom, and I sat out on the lanai watching the sun go down and sipping cold beer while we caught up. She was a lovely woman.” He looks directly at Steve and smiles, “I don’t have any family but it was like I was coming home the way she made me feel so welcome.”

He knows to moves on quickly after that, “So fast forward- dinner gets made, the men of the house show up, more beers are downed and we have one hell of a fine meal under the stars. I’ll never forget that dinner- it was beautiful out there and there was so much love around that table. You could see it and feel it, even with all the eye rolling Mary was doing.” While Joe waits for the chuckles to die down he takes the deep breaths that certain memories require. “Another reason I’ll never forget that dinner is that it was the last time I saw… everyone together.” Blinking hard but keeping his voice light he shakes his head “Funny thing, somehow in the middle of talking about fifteen things at once, Steve’s dad steered the conversation right to where he wanted it and we were suddenly hearing about the incredible football season Steve had just had.”

Chin raises his bottle, “You betcha! Kakui High School. Steve’s freshman year. It was the first time a freshman ever started at Quarterback.”

“And destroyed a certain Chin Ho Kelly’s passing records!”

“Thank you for sharing that, Cuz.”

They all laugh and it feels good- especially for Steve. His is more of a huff and to be truthful, it hurts but at least it eases the ache in his throat. He’s not sure why Joe is doing this but he needs him to wrap it up.

“Okay, so I hear John bragging and I have to ask this strapping young man to show me his stuff. I tell him, we’ll make it interesting and let his Dad run a little defense. No surprise, they both jump out of their chairs like there’s a live charge under their bottoms. If I remember correctly Steve’s chair tipped over backwards he was so eager to take me up on the offer.”

“And that doesn’t surprise me one bit,”

“Quiet Danny.” Chin growls.

“Another thing I remember and this is the God’s truth is that after Steve picked up his chair he stopped and swore to his mom that he’d be back to help with the dishes.”

That one gets an awww from Kono and Jenna.

Danny’s gives Steve’s shoulder a squeeze, wishing like hell he could do more.

“Anyway, the three of us headed out to the front yard for a little fun. Right off the bat I saw why John was so excited. Steve was absolutely drilling the ball at me- I mean it was like the thing came out of a damn cannon.”

“That’s our boss!” Kono whoops.

Joe smiles at her, “So, we’d been at it for about five minutes, just Steve throwing to me at first. Then,he rolls back to throw again and as I yell hike, John goes flying at him. Even with his dad barreling down on him, he gets the throw off, neat and clean. It’s a perfect spiral that knocks me backward a step or two when I catch it-it’s got that much oompf behind it. I had my eyes on the ball so I missed seeing just how fast and hard John was charging but I did see the moment of impact and I’ve got to tell you, I cringed. John was up and off him in a flash but Steve stayed down. Not on his back or anything, but kneeling on one knee with his head down and one arm cradled against his chest. John was worried, you could tell. He asked Steve a couple of times if he was okay.” Joe makes eye contact around the room, “Does anyone know what our friend said?”

“I’m fine!”

The chorus is deafening.

Joe just smiles. “At the time, I wasn’t convinced; he just didn’t look right to me. I even dropped down on one knee to eyeball him, thinking maybe he’d had his bell rung. His pupils looked okay though; it was his expression that was on the iffy side–as in he was gritting his teeth big time. I look to John for a little guidance but he tells me that if Steve says he’s fine, he’s fine. Then the crazy guy says, ‘Come on son, throw Joe another one.’

Joe looks straight ahead, seeing nothing, “I’m getting ready to say let’s call it a night, but damn if Steve doesn’t stand up, grab the ball and jog off. At first I think he’s headed inside but then he turns and starts scanning the yard behind me, inviting me to give him a target. His face is different than the other times he threw to me, though-almost scary it’s so intense. I roll out to one side real slow, giving him a nice, easy target and what do I see but his dad, picking up steam to go in for another tackle.”

“What the hell?” Kono gasps.

“Well, let me tell you, John McGarrett learned a little lesson that night, Kono. Steve lets him get within a hair’s breadth of him, then does this fancy little side step thing and next thing you know, McGarrett Sr. is picking grass out of his teeth. Meanwhile, his son fires off a powerful bullet of a pass that nearly knocks the wind out of me. I let Steve know right away that it was one wicked pass. I got a little smile back but then, he kinda just stood there looking at the ground, taking deep breaths.”

“Why does that sound so familiar?”

It gets a lot of laughs but there’s pain as well as sarcasm in Danny’s voice and everyone knows it.

“Well I’ve got to say, seeing that from a fourteen year old just about blew me away. I went up to Steve and asked him if he needed help getting into the house since his father was still shaking off his up close and personal encounter with the lawn. Our friend here told me no, he was fine but he was still holding his arm funny and I knew, like I knew my own name, the kid was going to the ER that night.”

Danny leans over Steve’s shoulder, “So what you do to yourself that time babe?”

“Same thing as when we were hiking.”

“Same arm?”

Steve nods.

“Ouch. And nut job that you were, even back then, you kept playing? What the hell were you thinking?”

Steve shrugs, “My dad and I didn’t get to play ball like that very often. I just didn’t want to stop.”

“Well I was impressed as hell, let me tell you. I’ve had grown men writhing on the ground with less severe injuries. Years later when I saw Steve’s name on the roster for BUD/S class #203, I flashed back to that night and knew right away one candidate who was going to make it to graduation.”

“Lean and mean-that’s our guy!” All of a sudden, Kamekona jumps up, pumping his fist in the air and doing his own little impromptu celebration dance.

As it should, it has most of them laughing hysterically. Max is the only one who looks more concerned than amused; the big man is gyrating so wildly the room is actually shaking.

For his part Steve chuckles but he looks more uncomfortable than amused, and, not just because of Joe’s praise either. While he’s been sitting there listening the throbbing in his gut has been picking up strength. In fact, it’s starting to get so bad the beer in his stomach might not stay there much longer.

“You okay?” Danny whispers. He gets the answer the second their cheeks touch and he feels the heat. On top of that, instead of the expected, ‘I’m fine,’ Steve whispers “I’m … beat,” which in McGarrett speak means ‘Get me out of here.’

Say no fucking more.

“Okay folks that’s just about all the fun our friend and I can take in one night. I hate to break things up but the boss and I are exiting stage left pronto." As he reaches to help Steve up he motions for Chin to do the same on his other side.

The rest of them try not to stare but it’s hard not to. All of sudden Steve just doesn’t look so good.

Max, with his professional, lifetime pass to stare all he wants takes one good look and jumps up and follows them out into the hallway, “Wait one minute please” His eyes narrow, “How are you feeling, Steve?”

“F…fine.”

“Really? Well you appear less energetic and more pale to me.” He turns to Danny, “he may need to see another physician, my General Surgery rotation was many years ago.”

“Well even so, I’m sure you remember that it’s not good to run a fever after you meet up with a dirty knife- am I right ?”

Max frowns but then, as soon as he catches on, reaches up to feel Steve’s forehead. His frown deepens, “You may have a fever Steve.”

“No, it’s just hot in here.”

“Actually it is quite chilly in here-”

“I’m… fine.”

Talk about a dichotomy.

“Here,” Max fishes a small envelope out of his pocket, “I want you to take these antibiotics- one every six hours. Oh and these too,” he pulls out another envelope, “one to two of these every four hours for pain.”

Danny takes them and pockets them, “I’m not so sure we should be going home-what do you think Max?”

“Well if he is developing an infection, IV antibiotics will treat it more aggressively.”

“No!” Steve’s voice might be ragged but it’s firm. “No hospital- not tonight. Please.”

“Everything okay, son?”

It’s like he’s a puppet and someone just pulled the mid-line string the way Steve snaps to attention, “Yes sir-“

“Uh, actually that would be a no sir-as is your boy’s got a fever but won’t consider a little side trip to the hospital.”

“You feeling worse, Steve?”

“No sir- I’m-“

“First of all let’s lose the sir-that is unless I made Captain and no one told me about it.”

“I’m fine…Joe,” Steve grits, “It’s just that… I just got out of one hell hole and I’d like to have one night before I’m forced into another one.”

That gets a chuckle which is quite a feat given how worried the people who give it are.

Trust McGarrett to put prisons and hospitals on the same page.

“How important is it that he go tonight, Max ?”

Max seems surprised that Joe knows his name, “Oh. Well. If he takes the antibiotics as well as 625 milligrams of acetaminophen every four hours he should be okay waiting until morning.”

“And that’s what… I’m going to do.”

Looking back they remember how surprised they were that Danny didn’t launch an instant rant. He would even admit he surprised himself.

The thing was that as much as he wanted Steve to go get checked out, when he saw the look in his eyes and heard the desperation in his voice he just couldn’t do it to him-he had to let him sleep in his own bed.

And, as it turned out, he had to stay right there next to him, catnapping under a ratty blanket in a leather recliner and jumping up every half hour to feel his forehead and force sips of water into him and basically worry like crazy until the sun finally came up.

When it did, there was a knock at the door.

Who the hell was that?

Standing there in his camouflage fatigues, Joe was the picture of calm, “If you still think he needs to go, I’m here to help you get our boy to the hospital.”

“Shit, I’d hug you, but, I’m too tired. You bet he still needs to go, the guy is starting to sound loopy up there-“

“What? His fever’s worse?”

“Based on the back of my hand I’d say it is. The goof doesn’t have a thermometer anywhere in the whole house. Come on up, you tell me.”

As they head upstairs, “You get any sleep last night?”

“Hell no. Our boy was a full time job.”

“Well come on, let me help you deal with him.”

Danny feels so relieved he stops midway up the stairs, “Did I ever tell you how grateful I am that you flew down to this pineapple infested hell hole in the first place?”

“No but you can tell me later when you buy me a few cold ones.”

“We get this doofus squared away and I swear to God I’m buying you a fricking keg.”

Joe just smiles as he heads into Steve’s room.


End file.
